FBI to relocate 1,500 personnel nationwide: report

ISTANBUL (AA) – The FBI is set to transfer up to 1,500 personnel from its Washington headquarters to field offices across the country as part of Director Kash Patel’s effort to decentralize the bureau and prioritize crime-fighting at the local level, according to officials.

FBI officials were briefed on the plan Friday that about 1,000 agents and administrative employees will be reassigned to field offices in cities identified as high-crime areas by the Donald Trump administration. Another 500 will move to the FBI’s satellite headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Director Patel has made clear his promise to the American public that FBI agents will be in communities focused on combatting violent crime,” the FBI said in a statement to The Washington Times.

“He has directed FBI leadership to implement a plan to put this promise into action,” it added.

Patel, a former federal prosecutor, outlined his vision in a message to the FBI’s 30,000 employees, calling for a streamlined Washington headquarters and an expanded field presence.

“This will include streamlining our operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation,” he said.

At his confirmation hearing, Patel criticized the concentration of FBI personnel in the capital region, noting that 7,500 employees work at the Washington Field Office alone.

“I am fully committed to having that workforce go out into the interior of the country, where I live, west of the Mississippi,” he told lawmakers in January, “and work with sheriff’s departments and local officers.”

On his first day at FBI headquarters on Friday, Patel was sworn in at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Addressing staff and supporters, he vowed accountability within and beyond the bureau.

“I promise you the following: There will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI,” Patel said.